Helen Choudhury

“Hi, I’m Helen Choudhury and I work for the MPA as their Head of Diversity, Equality & Inclusion. I have a legal background in public law and human rights. I went into DEI by ‘accident’ and ended up working in global EDI for over 20 years. Working for various organisations, I have learned what works well and what doesn’t. I have also witnessed many positive changes throughout my career but there is still a lot to do. I believe that we all have something to contribute to DEI, regardless of our backgrounds and that nobody should be left out of the conversation. What I enjoy most is bringing people together through shared experiences, education, understanding and raising greater awareness about topics that can impact them directly or indirectly.

The M³ Employee Network is very important to me, it has been created from my personal experience of living with two chronic, debilitating and progressive gynaecological diseases known as endometriosis and adenomyosis. I am also perimenopausal. These experiences and the extensive research I had done around them made me realise that an Employee Network and Guidance for employees and managers could help create more supportive workplaces. I spent some part of my working life pretending these issues didn’t impact me, smiling and delivering work whilst in chronic pain. I didn’t know if this was something I could discuss with my colleagues or manager, or whether doing so would affect my career progression. I want others to have the tools they need to ensure they don’t have to do this too. I hope that by sharing my experience, I can help others open up and share their personal stories too.”